New 'Southland' eps off to decent start for TNT

TNT began its run of new "Southland" episdodes Tuesday, and the L.A. cop drama scored 2.5 million viewers, with 1.3 in the 18-49 demo.

It's not great — certainly nowhere near "The Closer"-type numbers — but Turner cabler feels good about having a prestige show on its net.

Last night's episode was the first of six new episodes that TNT shot after NBC canceled the show. The first seven episodes averaged 1.4 million viewers, 596,000 in 18-49.

"Southland" originally premiered on NBC last spring after heavy promotion following the end of "ER." After initially strong ratings, the series began to shed viewers on a weekly basis.